#anna cafe budapest

[simajfit]

[eddieredmayneargentinablog]

Lucky people! Some new photos of Eddie with fans in Budapest!

📸 Credit:

Alexandra Pozsár

Gundel Cafe Patisserie Restaurant

@biacsksaaa

Howard Maxwell

Anna Bacsó

Bálint Magyar

Ruta Brazauskaite Traksele

@renatataylorf1

cramcreammott

@nikolay.nobel

[mariacallous]

1. Favorite book, 2: favorite spot in nyc, 3. Do you like to cook?, 4. Favorite item of clothing, 5. Who you would impersonate on twitter

Favorite book: God, that's such a difficult question, because I have so many favorites. However, an enduring one would be Cafe Europa: Life After Communism by Slavenka Drakulic

Favorite spot in NYC: Lincoln Center. Between the fountain and the plaza or courtyard, and being able to look into the different buildings and just everything about it.

Do I like to cook?: I do! Although I sometimes need to be in the right mood - and I've not done any baking or sweet cooking for a while now.

Favorite item of clothing: My scarf with a map of Budapest on it.

Who would I impersonate on Twitter: Anna Wintour.

[snickerstour]

Budapest

Ein richtig schönes Plätzchen vor Budapest wollten wir noch finden und wir,fanden es auch. Kieselstrand, Sonnenschein und eine Feuerstelle fürs Abendessen kochen, sogar die Hängematte konnte ich endlich einmal aufhängen. Wir genossen einen gemütlichen Nachmittag mit Lesen und Nichts tun.

Am Strand vor unserem schönen Lagerplatz hat ein junger Mann mit einem Minimotorboot geankert. Nach einigen Bierbüchsen musste er dann mal an Land zum Austreten. Wir kamen ins Gespräch. Er ist Car Cosmeticer von Beruf und hat uns mit Bier beschenkt. Weil wir Balduin als Dank einen unserer selbstgemachten Holzschlüsselanhänger geschenkt haben, musste er vor Freude weinen.

Am nächsten Morgen nach wenigen Ruderkilometer rief uns jemand von einer Insel zu: „Hallo, kommt etwas näher“. Ein älterer Herr und seine Frau Nora begrüssten uns auf deutsch und luden uns zum Kaffee in ihrem Garten ein. Franz hat ca. 15 verschiedene Kanus, welche er uns zeigte. Beide sind Tennislehrer und haben ein Ferienhaus auf dieser kleinen Insel vor Budapest. Eine schöne Begegnung.

Nun aber auf nach Budapest. In der Marina Part sind Tom und Verena mit ihrem Segelboot, welche wir in Wien kennengelernt haben. Die Marina ist ein Schicki Micki Motorboothafen mit einem Pool in einem alten Frachtschiff. Wir waren etwas under dressed aber wurden trotzdem empfangen. Nach einem gemütlichen Abend mit Verena und Tom (wir haben im Hafen ein 3 Gang Menü gekocht) haben wir mit vollem Bauch gut geschlafen.

Da wir wussten, dass uns ein ein heisser Tag erwartete, wollten wir früh in die Stadt. Erste Überraschung, Senioren fahren in Budapest gratis ÖV (fortschrittlich). Nach einem Frühstück im Cafe Anna schlenderten wir im Schatten der Häuser durch die Stadt. Für einen schönen Ausblick auf die Stadt stiegen wir auf die Basiliska des Stephansdom.

Bald wurde es aber zu heiss in der Stadt und wir suchten einen Park mit Schatten und fanden auch einen richtig grossen Park mit See, wo wir unter den grossen, alten Bäumen etwas ausruhen konnten. Da wir nun doch schon einen Überblick über diese grosse Stadt hatten, wie, wo und was und die Markthalle am Sonntag geschlossen war, suchten wir ein Restaurant für das Abendessen und bestellten ein Plättchen für 2 Personen und erhielten soviel Fleisch, Pommes und Salat, dass wir, was höchst selten passiert, nachdem wir etwa die Hälfte gegessen hatten, vom Essen erschöpft, aufgeben mussten.

Natürlich wollten wir den Hafenpool noch testen und da es wieder ein heisser Tag werden sollte, gingen wir um schon um 6 Uhr morgens baden und anschliessend in die Stadt. Wenig Leute waren um diese Zeit in der Markthalle, was wunderbar war. Nachdem wir uns mit Kirschen, Aprikosen und Paprikasalami eingedeckt hatten, gab es erst mal Frühstück in einem Café. Budapest ist aufgeteilt in Buda und Pest. Der Touri-Teil ist Pest. Wir liefen über Brücke nach Buda und landeten im Park auf einer Insel zwischen Buda und Pest. Laute Musik und Geschrei zogen uns zum Eingang eines Schwimmbades, wo gerade die Schwimm-WM stattfand. Am heutigen Tag war Synchronschwimmen angesagt. Das wär noch was, dachten wir und 1 Stunde später sassen wir auf der heissen Tribüne im Schwimmstadion und schauen uns die Finals Mixed und Team an. Einfach unglaublich, was diese Frauen und Männer in 4 Minuten leisten.

Wir schwitzten, kühlten uns mit nassen Leibchen und Caps und staunen einfach nur über die tollen Auftritte. Zurück im Hafen kühlten wir uns ab und genossen ein Essen im Hafenrestaurant.

Die Frage wie weiter, haben wir schnell und einstimmig gefällt, wir fahren noch weiter Richtung Belgrad.....

[dearamaliabalash]

she loves me as a sitcom // general she loves me headcanons

insp. for post found here 

(these will all be out of order so try to follow as best u can LOL) 

(also picture in the style of a mockumentary - think: the office, parks and rec) 

(p.p.s most of these are mainly ab georg and amalia sooooo)

long after georg and amalia discover they are each other’s dear friend, they take time to reminisce about their first letters that they sent to each other. they’re at georgs house and he pulls all her letters out of a drawer. cut to amalia being like “georg!!! I can’t believe you kept these!!!” and georg being all “of course I did” (him acting all ‘offended’, classic Levi 😏) and thEn cut to a talking head of amalia all teary eyed saying “I just,,, can’t believe he kept them.” (a la lorelai gilmore 5.03) also georg being like “I was so awkward in these letters!!! how did you ever fall for me?!” and amalia being like “you?! look at what I wrote!!” and all that :’)

it’s georg and amalias first year anniversary, and georg really wants to do something special - but of course, he starts freaking out and doesn’t know what to do. he goes to arpad and sipos to help him out, and they devise a somewhat complicated plan - but amalia being amalia, finds out. georg gets extremely disheartened, but amalia reassures him that she doesn’t need anything elaborate. they end up going to the cafe imperial and reminisce about their “first date” (parallel-style shots, mimicking the camerawork and placement of their first time at cafe imperial) 

in the early stages of receiving the letters, georg does his best to keep his reactions when reading them subtle/away from the camera. but of course, classic sitcom style, the camerapeople always seem to find a way to sneak in a shot of him and his pure joy when reading dear friends letters. (think the office or parks and rec, how the camera is behind a window/fence/ect. to capture a moment that the character doesn’t think is being recorded. yall know what I mean.) 

kinda random, but I’ve always pictured georg having a little stray orange tabby cat that he’s adopted - the cats name is levin (after the character from anna karenina) and untill he meets amalia it’s just him and levin :’) 

ok so after georg and amalia get together and have been dating for a few months, they decided to do a “book club” together, cause they’re NERDS. they both get really exited about it, and during every lunch break at maraczecks they sit down and read/discuss their book together. ilona, being the pure bean she is, asks if she and paul can join the club, and amalia immediately agrees - LOVING the idea. her and ilona start making plans for double dates, books they want to read, ect. georg pretends to be exited, but secretly wishes it could just stay between him and amalia, because he’s a sensitive man!!!!! amalia catches on to this after a few book clubs, and she confronts georg, angry that he didn’t tell her earlier! (bc let’s be honest, these two are still gonna have spats no matter what + we need the angst!) after a small fight, they both realize that they should keep the book club with ilona and paul, but also do one with just the two of them :’) 

georg proposes to amalia only a few months after ‘the reveal’ - because honestly, can you see him waiting any longer? no. he (again) becomes a nervous wreck, (a la tonight at eight) and tries his best to keep it a secret, but amalia suspects something is up. a few weeks pass, and he pops the question - with the ring tucked inside the infamous candy box. amalia is trilled, and says yes, of course!!! the entire store throws them an engagement party: arpad asks georg for dating advice, maraczeck tries to give georg marriage advice, and ilona immediately starts planning the wedding. cut to a talking head of amalia saying “I’ve known for 3 weeks.” trying to suppress a smile. cut to a flashback, of her and ilona spying on georg and following him around budapest - with amalia recounting the adventure as a voiceover. we see georg enter a ring store, and amalia and ilona squealing with joy. cut back to amalia, and georg walks into the room, disrupting the talking head, with amalia beaming (think jim and pam 3.24 “im sorry, what was the question?”) basically their whole relationship is just georg trying to be sneaky for romantic effect, failing miserably, and having amalia find out. 

[xaviportales]

Anant cap el Mercat (dins està #aldi per comprar #vegan ) (en Anna Cafe Budapest) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzyOzDrno67/?igshid=vmt6x0w9z53z

[veritomonetta]

El postrecito de Sabini (en Anna Cafe Budapest) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzyPw1LIcNI/?igshid=1jboj29pu7v32

[whittlebaggett8]

25 photos of the best destinations in Europe for 2019, Defence Online

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Paris, France made it to the top of TripAdvisor’s list.

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Brian Kinney/Shutterstock

According to TripAdvisor, locations within France and the United Kingdom are among the top 25 destinations in Europe for 2019.

The travel site created the list as part of its Travelers’ Choice Awards, which annually honors the world’s top travel destinations, standout restaurants, and best hotels.

This year’s winners were chosen after the site analyzed thousands of online reviews, and handpicked the destinations that travelers were most consistently pleased with. From Portugal to Russia, here are this year’s winners.

25. Krakow, Poland is described by TripAdvisor as one of the country’s “most culturally and politically significant cities.”

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The Wawel Cathedral is a must-see destination within Krakow, Poland.

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Andrzej Rostek/Shutterstock

While in Krakow, visitors can indulge in unique shops and restaurants at Krakow’s Rynek Glowny Central Square, or learn about the city’s history at the Wawel Cathedral, where many Polish kings are buried.

24. You can see everything from waterfalls to ancient ruins in Manavgat, Turkey.

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The Manavgat Waterfall is located along a river of the same name.

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Nejdet Duzen/Shutterstock

The town is located along Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, and is home to the Manavgat River, which flows into the Manavgat Waterfall.

After getting your feet wet at the river, travelers can visit sites like the Temple of Apollo and Greek Amphitheater, which showcase the location’s rich history.

23. Vienna, Austria, is the ultimate destination to have a cup of coffee.

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Coffee is a big part of Vienna’s culture.

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Imagno/Getty Images

According to TripAdvisor, coffee shops in Vienna aren’t “just a hangout” – they’re “an institution.” The country loves the drink so much that it even hosts a celebratory coffee festival each year.

22. Buildings in St. Petersburg, Russia, are unlike those in any other city.

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One of Russia’s most recognizable destinations is the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood.

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eFesenko / Shutterstock

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood stands out for its uniquely-shaped domes and a plethora of mosaics. Similarly, TripAdvisor recommends visiting the Winter Palace and Kazan Cathedral to see the city’s stunning architecture.

21. In Edinburgh, Scotland, festivals take place all year round.

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The Fringe Festival is a celebration of art that takes place in Edinburgh.

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Johann Knox/Shutterstock

The Scottish city hosts festivals to celebrate everything from art to science. The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, for example, is said to be the largest performing arts festival in the world, while the Edinburgh International Book Festival celebrates the literary world.

20. The city of Berlin, Germany, offers rich history, fashion, and architecture.

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Berlin, Germany, is known for its buildings and architecture.

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PHOTOCREO Michal Bednarek/Shutterstock

Of course, the Berlin Wall memorial is one of the most popular destinations to learn about the city’s history. But to learn about local architecture and fashion, travelers should consider stopping by the Deutsches Historisches Museum and Helmut Newton Foundation.

19. You can experience rich history while visiting the island of Malta.

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You can sail throughout the water surrounding Malta.

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David Ionut/Shutterstock

The island sits inside the Maltese archipelago and is the largest of the bunch. Many buildings within Malta date back to the 16th century, according to TripAdvisor, and are surrounded by the ruins of ancient temples.

Surrounding the bygone city are crystal-clear waters, which are perfect for sailing.

18. The Madeira Islands is an autonomous region of Portugal that’s comprised of four islands.

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You’ll feel like you’re walking through the clouds while on top of Pico Ruivo.

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saiko3p/Shutterstock

The eponymous Madeira island is the largest within the archipelago and is home to bustling cities like Funchal. Travelers can also go on whale-watching cruises, and climb Pico Ruivo, the island’s highest peak.

17. Budapest, Hungary is the perfect place to visit a spa.

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The Szechenyi Bath is beloved by travelers and locals alike.

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Alex Segre/Shutterstock

There is a surplus of places to relax within Budapest, like the fan-favorite Szechenyi Bath and luxurious Gellert Spa. Many of Budapest’s locations also date back to the 16th century, providing a peak into Hungary’s past while you indulge in wellness treatments.

16. If you’re looking for a destination where you can de-stress, Corsica, France, might be the place.

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Corsica, France is an island comprised of small coastal towns.

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Littleaom/Shutterstock

There are multiple ways to see the island’s coastal towns, but TripAdvisor recommends traveling by train or walking trails.

15. Venice, Italy is a dream travel destination for many people.

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The Italian city of Venice is known for its gondolas.

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Efired/Shutterstock

Between the city’s gondola cruises and variety of historic buildings, it’s no surprise that Venice made it onto TripAdvisor’s list.

14. Travelers to the Netherlands will want to stop in Amsterdam.

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You can get around town in a variety of ways while visiting Amsterdam.

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Yasonya/Shutterstock

The city is described by TripAdvisor as “one of Europe’s most picturesque capitals.” Colorful buildings line Amsterdam’s streets, and look stunning whether you’re traveling by bike or on foot.

Read more: Amsterdam is banning guided tours of the red-light district altogether

13. Travelers seeking a luxurious beach resort should visit the Greek Dodecanese island of Rhodes.

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You can stay at a variety of ocean-side resorts in Rhodes.

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Mistervlad/Shutterstock

Rhodes is home to both a medieval city filled with ancient palaces, and a beachfront strip of hotels and resorts.

12. TripAdvisor describes Florence, Italy, as “an art historian’s dream.”

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You can see artwork like The Birth of Venus while in Florence.

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Shutterstock / Sergey Novikov

The Galleria dell’Accademia, for example, is filled with Michelangelo’s artwork, while Florence’s Uffizi Galleries houses pieces like The Birth of Venus painting.

11. Out of all the Cyclades islands in Greece, Santorini is one of the most beautiful.

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Santorini is one of the Cyclades islands in Greece.

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Dmitry Morgan/Shutterstock

Many travelers are familiar with the island’s white buildings and jagged cliffs, and for good reason. While visiting the picturesque destination, travelers can relax on the island’s many beaches or sample wine at one of the region’s vineyards.

10. Another island to make TripAdvisor’s list is Tenerife in Spain.

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Nature lovers will flock to the island of Tenerife in 2019.

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Victor Torres/Shutterstock

Tenerife is located within the Canary Islands, and is perfect for nature lovers. Travelers can hike in sections of the island such as Mount Teide, or walk the slopes of Masca Valley.

9. Travelers of the Balearic Islands in Spain will want to check out Majorca.

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Majorca has relaxing beaches.

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Anna Lurye/Shutterstock

You can find relaxing beach resorts within the limestone mountains of Majorca, making it the perfect island getaway.

8. Museum fanatics will love the colorful city of Lisbon, Portugal.

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Lisbon is home to tons of museums.

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TTstudio/Shutterstock

Specifically, TripAdvisor recommends the Museu de Marinha for families, and the Casa-Museu Dr. Anastácio Gonçalves for art lovers.

7. Historic sites fill the city of Prague, Czech Republic.

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Old Town Square has been in Prague since the 12th century.

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PHOTOCREO Michal Bednarek/Shutterstock

Many of Prague’s historical landmarks, like the Church of Our Lady before Týn, can be found within the Old Town Square, which dates back to the 12th century.

6. Istanbul, Turkey is one of the best places in Europe to go shopping.

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Bazaars are a highlight of Istanbul.

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Seqoya/Shutterstock

The city of Istanbul is filled with bazaars, which offer everything from rugs to spices. One of the most popular is Kapali Carsi, a market that’s home to more than 4,000 shops.

5. It’s no surprise that Barcelona, Spain, made it to the top of TripAdvisor’s list.

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There are plenty of places to enjoy tapas and a drink in Barcelona.

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JeniFoto/Shutterstock

The Spanish city is known for its extravagant churches like the Sagrada Familia, and its wide array of tapas bars.

4. Crete is the largest island in Greece.

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The island of Crete is a breathtaking travel destination.

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arturasker/Shutterstock

According to TripAdvisor, Crete is a “Mediterranean jewel” known for its “archaeological and mythological history.” Elafonissi Beach is said to be one of the best places to relax, while the island’s Botanical Park & Gardens is a great place to view nature.

3. Rome, Italy comes in third place as result of its historic sites and delicious cuisine.

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The Trevi Fountain is one of many historical sites in Rome, Italy.

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Belenos/Shutterstock

In between sightseeing at places like the Trevi Fountain and Colosseum, TripAdvisor suggests dining in one of Rome’s many cafes to indulge in espresso or gelato.

2. A list of the top travel destinations in Europe wouldn’t be complete without Paris, France.

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Paris, France is also known as the city of love.

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Brian Kinney/Shutterstock

An ideal day in the city of love consists of walking along the Seine River and viewing spectacular art in the Louvre museum.

1. At the top of TripAdvisor’s list is London, England.

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London is a great place to view historical buildings and cultural landmarks.

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s4svisual/Shutterstock

Between Buckingham Palace and Abbey Road, there are tons of destinations in London that hold historical and cultural significance. There are also ample places to shop and dine in places like Oxford Street and Piccadilly Circus.

The post 25 photos of the best destinations in Europe for 2019, Defence Online appeared first on Defence Online.

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[robertdaviis]

How to Spend a Week in Vienna

Vienna. Home to schnitzel, Freud, Mozart, the Hapsburgs, opera, art, coffeeshops, and so much more. Over the decade I have been coming in and out of this city, I’ve watched it change from a stiff capital city to a cool, hip, foodie, and arty paradise.

Ok, it’s always been an arty paradise and maybe the “stiff capital” was just my incorrect first impression. See, when I first visited Vienna, I wasn’t a fan. It felt too stiff. Too proper. It had the air of a city too long steeped in imperial history. Despite being taken around by a local friend, I kept comparing it to Prague and Budapest and went “mehhh.”

But, over time, I’ve come to appreciate the city and all it has to offer. In short, I was wrong about Vienna (and that goes to the important point that first impressions are not always correct). The city has countless museums, palaces, markets, restaurants, quirky art exhibits, delicious food halls, neighbors a wonderful wine region, and is a quick train trip to Bratislava.

With so much to offer, here’s how I’d organize a week long visit to Vienna:

Day 1

Free walking tour (Neubaugürtel 54, +43 6645544315, www.goodviennatours.eu) – Start your trip off with a free walking tour. It’s a cool way to get a sense of the capital, give you a taste of its history and culture, and let you explore and orientate yourself the city on foot. Plus, you can ask your guide any and all questions you may have! Three excellent free tours are:

Good Tours

Anna Loves Vienna

The Original Free Vienna Walking Tour

Just make sure to tip your guide!

Imperial Palace (Michaelerkuppel, +43 15337570, www.hofburg-wien.at) – Built in the 13th century, this is a giant complex with multiple attractions. You can easily spend half a day here. First, there are the Imperial Apartments, which is really three activities in one: the silver collection featuring thousands of royal dinnerware, the Sisi exhibit highlighting the life of the beloved Empress Elisabeth of Austria, and the actually royal apartments themselves. Additionally, you can also check out the butterfly museum and the National Library where you can see the ornate baroque style State Hall with its tens of thousands of books.

However, my favorite is the Imperial Treasury. You’ll find tons of royal artifacts, crowns, scepters, and a really detailed history of the Hapsburg family and empire. And, though not free, you should definitely get the audio tour. It adds a ton of context to the exhibits. Honestly, if you just see this attraction, you’d learn enough!

Opening hours: Daily (9am-5:30pm) from September to June, and 9am-6pm in July and August. Admission is 14 EUR for adults and 8.20 EUR for kids. Just be sure to avoid the weekends if you can, as it gets crowded.

Additionally, you can listen to the Vienna Boys Choir during mass on Sundays at the Royal Chapel (which is located at the Imperial Palace). They are one of the most famous choirs in the world. There are around 100 boys in the choir. (Seated tickets start at 11 EUR, though you can get free standing room tickets if you line up 30-45 minutes before the performance.)

Naschmarkt (1060 Vienna, +43 1400005430, www.naschmarkt-vienna.com) – This is Vienna’s largest open-air food market. It’s been operating for hundreds of years and has a variety of restaurants, street stalls, and grocers. It’s a little touristy (don’t go food shopping here) but it has a cool vibe and, on a warm sunny day, it’s nice to sit out with a meal and a glass of wine. Despite its fame, you’ll still find a lot of locals here. Be sure to hit up Umarfisch for seafood and wine.

Opening hours: Monday-Friday (9am-7:30pm), Saturday (9am-5pm). Restaurants and cafes are open later.

Day 2

Museumsquartier (Museumsplatz 1, +43 15235881, www.mqw.at) – Once the imperial stables, the Museumsquartier is now home to three different museums: the Leopold Museum for Art Noveau and Experessionism; Kunsthalle Wien, an exhibition center with rotating exhibitions; and the Museum of Modern Art, which has the largest collection of modern art in central Europe. The Museumsquartier is also home to a number of festivals throughout the year.

Basically, if you love modern art, you need to come here!

Museum of Fine Arts (Maria-Theresien-Platz, +43 1525240, www.khm.at) – This is the largest art museum in the country, with artifacts from ancient Egypt and Greece and paintings from Raphael, Rembrandt, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, and more. Most of the items are from the Hapsburg’s old collection. This museum is more “classic art” and there’s enough to keep you busy for a few hours (at the very least).

Opening hours: Daily (10am-6pm; 10am-9pm on Thursdays) from June to August. Tuesday-Sunday (10am-6pm) and Thursday (10am-9pm) from September to May. Admission is 15 EUR.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral (Stephansplatz 3, www.stephanskirche.at) – Built in Romanesque and Gothic styles, this cathedral has been standing since the 12th century. Inside, you’ll find an ornately decorated church with high archways, vaulted ceilings, and a plethora of statues and religious paintings. Additionally, there are two beautiful altars: the High Altar, built in the 1640s and the Wiener Neustadt Altar, commissioned in 1447. The cathedral also has two towers, though one was never finished because they ran out of money. You can pay 5 EUR to climb the several hundred steps of the south tower or, if climbing isn’t your thing, you can pay 6 EUR to explore the catacombs below the cathedral.

Opening hours: Monday-Saturday (6am-10pm), Sunday (7am-10pm).

Stroll along the Danube If you haven’t done so already, take a walk along the Danube. There are plenty of bars, stores, and cafes along the water so you can grab a drink and chill or just window shop if you don’t feel like stopping. In the summer, there are also a few small “beaches” where you can relax and soak up some sun and relax on a nice day.

Day 3

House of Music (Seilerstätte 30, +43 15134850, www.hausdermusik.com) – This is a small but fascinating museum featuring exhibits on some of the world’s most well-known Austrian composers — Mozart, Schubert, Strauss, and Schoenberg. You can view manuscripts, artifacts, and there’s also a virtual stage where you can conduct your own symphony.

Opening hours: Daily (10am-10pm). Admission is 13 EUR.

Schonbrunn Palace (Schönbrunner Schloßstraße 47, +43 1 81113239, www.schoenbrunn.at) – This palace started off as a hunting lodge in 1696 before becoming the summer residence of the Hapsburgs (because at the time this was far outside the city center). There are over 1,400 rooms in the palace but only a handful are open to the public (you’ll see 22 rooms with the imperial tour and 40 rooms with the grand tour). However, there’s enough to spend a few hours here wandering the exquisitely restored rooms. The gardens are free (you’ll see a lot of locals running here) and there’s also a neat maze as well as the “Schonbrunn Tiergarten” (the Vienna Zoo), which is a great place to take the kids. I love coming to the gardens, climbing up the hill, and enjoying a bottle of wine with friends. You can see the city off in the distance. There are also guided tours for those particularly interested in the history of the palace.

Opening hours: Daily (8am-5:30pm) from April-June and September-November; 8am-6:30pm from July 1-August 31; 8am-5pm from November 5-March 31. The Imperial Tour is 14.20 EUR and takes 30-40 minutes, the Grand Tour is 17.50 and takes approximately 1 hour, the Classic Pass is 24 EUR and takes 3-4 hours, and the Sisi Ticket is 29.90 EUR and lasts an entire day. There is also an audio guide available in 21 different languages free of charge.

Vienna State Opera (Opernring 2, +43 1 514 44/2250, www.wiener-staatsoper.at) – Vienna is pretty much synonymous with opera. This opera house is one of the largest and most famous in the world and opera is a major focal point of Viennese life. For 9 EUR, you can take a 40-minute behind-the-scenes tour of the facility. To see a show, I recommend buying last minute standing room tickets for around 10 EUR (often less) the day of a show, usually around 60-80 minutes before it starts (you can line up earlier than that, but they don’t start selling until right before the show). It’s first come, first serve and you can only buy 1 ticket per person.

Opening hours: Varies daily for guided tours and for performances.

Day 4

Belvedere Palace (Prinz-Eugen-Strasse 27, +43 1 795570, www.belvedere.at) – This is one of my favorite places in the city. The Belvedere is actually two palaces. The northern palace is home to an incredible art collection with works by Renoir, Monet, and Van Gogh and a large portrait collection (which is my favorite). The southern palace is a rotating exhibit hall. The free grounds feature beautiful fountains, gravel walkways, ponds, statues, plants, and flowers and are prefect for stroll on a nice day.

Opening hours: Daily (10am-6pm). Admission is 8-22 EUR, depending on how much you want to explore.

Jewish Square (Dorotheergasse 11, +43 1 5350431, www.jmw.at) – For centuries, Vienna was home to a sizable Jewish population. Then the Nazis came. This area of town features two important museums: the Vienna Jewish Museum that details the role Viennese Jews played in the development of city life; and the Medieval Synagogue, which gives a more authentic look at the history of Jewish life in Vienna. There is also the nearby sober Holocaust memorial designed by British artist Rachel Whiteread.

Opening hours: Sunday-Thursday (10am-6pm), Friday (10am-2pm). Admission to the museum is 12 EUR for adults, with discounts available.

Natural History Museum (Burgring 7, +43 1 521770, www.nhm-wien.ac.at) – The Natural History Museum features a huge collection of minerals, precious stones, meteorites, fossils, and even some taxidermy because stuffed animals and all! With over 30 million objects, the museum’s collection is one of the biggest in Europe. The museum is also home to a digital planetarium where you can watch movies about the earth and its development. I highly recommend going (cause space is awesome).

Opening hours: Thursday-Monday (9am-6:30pm), Wednesday (9am-9pm). Admission is 10 EUR.

Day 5

Mozart Museum (Domgasse 5, +43 1 5121791, www.mozarthausvienna.at) – Though Mozart lived at a handful of different addresses in Vienna, this is the only apartment that has survived. He lived here from 1784-1787, and you’ll learn about his life, family, music, friends, and are able to listen to his work. There’s a variety of paintings, artifacts, letters, and memorabilia from his life here as well. It’s a neat little museum to check out.

Opening hours: Daily (10am-7pm). Admission is 11 EUR.

Freud Museum (Berggasse 19, +43 1 3191596, www.freud-museum.at) – Sigmund Freud, the famous founder of psychoanalysis, lived in this apartment-turned-museum from 1891 to 1938. The museum was opened in 1971 with the help of Anna Freud (his youngest daughter) and is home to the original furniture and Freud’s private collection of antiques as well as first editions of his works. There are also films from his private life. It’s small and only takes about an hour to visit.

Opening hours: Daily (10am-6pm). Admission is 12 EUR.

Albertina (Albertinaplatz 1, +43 1 53483, www.albertina.at) – The Albertina is one of the best museums in the city (which says a lot because this is a city of museums)! It’s housed in one of the old private residence wings of the Imperial Palace. It’s most famous for its print collection, which is comprised of over one million prints and 60,000 drawings. However, they have a lot of temporary exhibits that rotate through here too, which I found to be the highlight (I saw one on Raphael).

Opening hours: Saturday-Tuesday, Thursday (10am-6pm), Wednesday and Friday (10am-9pm). Admission is 13 EUR for adults and free if you’re under 19.

Day 6

Do a Wine Tour (+ 43 12297334, www.discoverviennatours.com) Once you’ve had your fill of museums and palaces, take a bike tour of the nearby Wachau Valley. You’ll get to taste some of the best local wine while burning off a few extra calories (to make room for more wine, of course!). It’s a full day excursion (plan to spend 8-10 hours on this) that includes some sightseeing and lunch too. If you’re looking for a tour operator, I suggest Discover Vienna Tours. They are who I use when I run tours to Vienna and people love it. Honestly, it’s the number thing people remember!

Tours go between April and October and cost around 74 EUR per person (with discounts available for students).

Day 7

Visit Bratislava Bratislava makes for a great day trip from Vienna. Located only an hour away, you can easily head there for a day to explore its charming medieval center, several castles, a cathedral, beer halls, restaurants, and paths along the Danube. Bratislava is a relatively small capital so it’s easy to get around on foot. Trains depart regularly from Vienna for as little as 10 EUR, while Flixbus runs a regular bus service with tickets starting around 5 EUR. If you stay in the night, Hostel Blues is my favorite hostel in the city.

OR….

Explore Vienna Woods This beautiful woodland (known as Wienerwald) is located on the outskirts of the city and is filled with a lot of hiking paths. It’s located around 30km from the city, extremely popular with locals (few tourists get out there). If you don’t have a vehicle, you can take public transportation or try the ride-sharing service BlaBlaCar.

Where to eat

Here’s a list of all my favorite restaurants in Vienna:

Figmueller (Wollzeile 5, +43 15126177) – Founded over 110 years ago, the Figlmüller is famous for its schnitzel. Yes, it’s super touristy but the schnitzel is very good and it’s about the size of your face so you’ll have leftovers. Be sure to make reservations!

Der Wiener Deewan (Liechtensteinstraße 10, +43 1 9251185) – This pay-what-you-want restaurant cooks Pakistani cuisine with excellent daal, naan bread, and salad. It’s popular among students (the university is nearby). Don’t go in a huge group or you’ll never get a seat.

Café Jelinek (Otto-Bauer-Gasse 5, +43 15974113) – This is one of many coffee houses in Vienna. It’s cool, stylish, serves great drinks, and has comfy tables.

Japanisches Restaurant NihonBashi (Kärntner 44, +43 18907856) – This is the best sushi restaurant in Vienna. Not only is the food mouth watering but it has an extensive sake menu.

Plutzer Bräu (Schrankgasse 2, +43 15261215) – A Westernized bar, this place has delicious Viennese food, along with steaks, burgers, and lots of beer.

Café Phil (Gumpendorfer 10, +43 15810489) – This cafe is also a bookstore. It’s very laid back and a great place to people watch. They also have fast wifi, friendly staff, and serve food!

L’Osteria Bräunerstraße (Bräunerstraße 11, +43 1512253610) – To die for Italian and pizza joint right downtown with outdoor seatings, friendly staff, and a huge wine list.

Restaurant Hidori (Burggasse 89, +43 15233900) – Another solid sushi place that also services some pretty amazing yakitori (grilled skewers).

Café Sperl (Gumpendorfer 11, +43 15864158) – This traditional coffeehouse dates back to the 19th century and is home to some delicious pastries. It was featured in Before Sunrise and A Dangerous Method.

**** Vienna has a lot of things to do in see. Sure, there’s a lot of museums and, by the time you leave here, you’ll have museum overload but there’s also a lot of great walking tours, excursions outside the city, food markets, places to eat, and cafes to sit around with a good book in! Vienna will never steer you wrong!

The post How to Spend a Week in Vienna appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

How to Spend a Week in Vienna syndicated from https://aspiringgentlemanblog.wordpress.com/

[melissagarcia8]

How to Spend a Week in Vienna

Vienna. Home to schnitzel, Freud, Mozart, the Hapsburgs, opera, art, coffeeshops, and so much more. Over the decade I have been coming in and out of this city, I’ve watched it change from a stiff capital city to a cool, hip, foodie, and arty paradise.

Ok, it’s always been an arty paradise and maybe the “stiff capital” was just my incorrect first impression. See, when I first visited Vienna, I wasn’t a fan. It felt too stiff. Too proper. It had the air of a city too long steeped in imperial history. Despite being taken around by a local friend, I kept comparing it to Prague and Budapest and went “mehhh.”

But, over time, I’ve come to appreciate the city and all it has to offer. In short, I was wrong about Vienna (and that goes to the important point that first impressions are not always correct). The city has countless museums, palaces, markets, restaurants, quirky art exhibits, delicious food halls, neighbors a wonderful wine region, and is a quick train trip to Bratislava.

With so much to offer, here’s how I’d organize a week long visit to Vienna:

Day 1

Free walking tour (Neubaugürtel 54, +43 6645544315, www.goodviennatours.eu) – Start your trip off with a free walking tour. It’s a cool way to get a sense of the capital, give you a taste of its history and culture, and let you explore and orientate yourself the city on foot. Plus, you can ask your guide any and all questions you may have! Three excellent free tours are:

Good Tours

Anna Loves Vienna

The Original Free Vienna Walking Tour

Just make sure to tip your guide!

Imperial Palace (Michaelerkuppel, +43 15337570, www.hofburg-wien.at) – Built in the 13th century, this is a giant complex with multiple attractions. You can easily spend half a day here. First, there are the Imperial Apartments, which is really three activities in one: the silver collection featuring thousands of royal dinnerware, the Sisi exhibit highlighting the life of the beloved Empress Elisabeth of Austria, and the actually royal apartments themselves. Additionally, you can also check out the butterfly museum and the National Library where you can see the ornate baroque style State Hall with its tens of thousands of books.

However, my favorite is the Imperial Treasury. You’ll find tons of royal artifacts, crowns, scepters, and a really detailed history of the Hapsburg family and empire. And, though not free, you should definitely get the audio tour. It adds a ton of context to the exhibits. Honestly, if you just see this attraction, you’d learn enough!

Opening hours: Daily (9am-5:30pm) from September to June, and 9am-6pm in July and August. Admission is 14 EUR for adults and 8.20 EUR for kids. Just be sure to avoid the weekends if you can, as it gets crowded.

Additionally, you can listen to the Vienna Boys Choir during mass on Sundays at the Royal Chapel (which is located at the Imperial Palace). They are one of the most famous choirs in the world. There are around 100 boys in the choir. (Seated tickets start at 11 EUR, though you can get free standing room tickets if you line up 30-45 minutes before the performance.)

Naschmarkt (1060 Vienna, +43 1400005430, www.naschmarkt-vienna.com) – This is Vienna’s largest open-air food market. It’s been operating for hundreds of years and has a variety of restaurants, street stalls, and grocers. It’s a little touristy (don’t go food shopping here) but it has a cool vibe and, on a warm sunny day, it’s nice to sit out with a meal and a glass of wine. Despite its fame, you’ll still find a lot of locals here. Be sure to hit up Umarfisch for seafood and wine.

Opening hours: Monday-Friday (9am-7:30pm), Saturday (9am-5pm). Restaurants and cafes are open later.

Day 2

Museumsquartier (Museumsplatz 1, +43 15235881, www.mqw.at) – Once the imperial stables, the Museumsquartier is now home to three different museums: the Leopold Museum for Art Noveau and Experessionism; Kunsthalle Wien, an exhibition center with rotating exhibitions; and the Museum of Modern Art, which has the largest collection of modern art in central Europe. The Museumsquartier is also home to a number of festivals throughout the year.

Basically, if you love modern art, you need to come here!

Museum of Fine Arts (Maria-Theresien-Platz, +43 1525240, www.khm.at) – This is the largest art museum in the country, with artifacts from ancient Egypt and Greece and paintings from Raphael, Rembrandt, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, and more. Most of the items are from the Hapsburg’s old collection. This museum is more “classic art” and there’s enough to keep you busy for a few hours (at the very least).

Opening hours: Daily (10am-6pm; 10am-9pm on Thursdays) from June to August. Tuesday-Sunday (10am-6pm) and Thursday (10am-9pm) from September to May. Admission is 15 EUR.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral (Stephansplatz 3, www.stephanskirche.at) – Built in Romanesque and Gothic styles, this cathedral has been standing since the 12th century. Inside, you’ll find an ornately decorated church with high archways, vaulted ceilings, and a plethora of statues and religious paintings. Additionally, there are two beautiful altars: the High Altar, built in the 1640s and the Wiener Neustadt Altar, commissioned in 1447. The cathedral also has two towers, though one was never finished because they ran out of money. You can pay 5 EUR to climb the several hundred steps of the south tower or, if climbing isn’t your thing, you can pay 6 EUR to explore the catacombs below the cathedral.

Opening hours: Monday-Saturday (6am-10pm), Sunday (7am-10pm).

Stroll along the Danube If you haven’t done so already, take a walk along the Danube. There are plenty of bars, stores, and cafes along the water so you can grab a drink and chill or just window shop if you don’t feel like stopping. In the summer, there are also a few small “beaches” where you can relax and soak up some sun and relax on a nice day.

Day 3

House of Music (Seilerstätte 30, +43 15134850, www.hausdermusik.com) – This is a small but fascinating museum featuring exhibits on some of the world’s most well-known Austrian composers — Mozart, Schubert, Strauss, and Schoenberg. You can view manuscripts, artifacts, and there’s also a virtual stage where you can conduct your own symphony.

Opening hours: Daily (10am-10pm). Admission is 13 EUR.

Schonbrunn Palace (Schönbrunner Schloßstraße 47, +43 1 81113239, www.schoenbrunn.at) – This palace started off as a hunting lodge in 1696 before becoming the summer residence of the Hapsburgs (because at the time this was far outside the city center). There are over 1,400 rooms in the palace but only a handful are open to the public (you’ll see 22 rooms with the imperial tour and 40 rooms with the grand tour). However, there’s enough to spend a few hours here wandering the exquisitely restored rooms. The gardens are free (you’ll see a lot of locals running here) and there’s also a neat maze as well as the “Schonbrunn Tiergarten” (the Vienna Zoo), which is a great place to take the kids. I love coming to the gardens, climbing up the hill, and enjoying a bottle of wine with friends. You can see the city off in the distance. There are also guided tours for those particularly interested in the history of the palace.

Opening hours: Daily (8am-5:30pm) from April-June and September-November; 8am-6:30pm from July 1-August 31; 8am-5pm from November 5-March 31. The Imperial Tour is 14.20 EUR and takes 30-40 minutes, the Grand Tour is 17.50 and takes approximately 1 hour, the Classic Pass is 24 EUR and takes 3-4 hours, and the Sisi Ticket is 29.90 EUR and lasts an entire day. There is also an audio guide available in 21 different languages free of charge.

Vienna State Opera (Opernring 2, +43 1 514 44/2250, www.wiener-staatsoper.at) – Vienna is pretty much synonymous with opera. This opera house is one of the largest and most famous in the world and opera is a major focal point of Viennese life. For 9 EUR, you can take a 40-minute behind-the-scenes tour of the facility. To see a show, I recommend buying last minute standing room tickets for around 10 EUR (often less) the day of a show, usually around 60-80 minutes before it starts (you can line up earlier than that, but they don’t start selling until right before the show). It’s first come, first serve and you can only buy 1 ticket per person.

Opening hours: Varies daily for guided tours and for performances.

Day 4

Belvedere Palace (Prinz-Eugen-Strasse 27, +43 1 795570, www.belvedere.at) – This is one of my favorite places in the city. The Belvedere is actually two palaces. The northern palace is home to an incredible art collection with works by Renoir, Monet, and Van Gogh and a large portrait collection (which is my favorite). The southern palace is a rotating exhibit hall. The free grounds feature beautiful fountains, gravel walkways, ponds, statues, plants, and flowers and are prefect for stroll on a nice day.

Opening hours: Daily (10am-6pm). Admission is 8-22 EUR, depending on how much you want to explore.

Jewish Square (Dorotheergasse 11, +43 1 5350431, www.jmw.at) – For centuries, Vienna was home to a sizable Jewish population. Then the Nazis came. This area of town features two important museums: the Vienna Jewish Museum that details the role Viennese Jews played in the development of city life; and the Medieval Synagogue, which gives a more authentic look at the history of Jewish life in Vienna. There is also the nearby sober Holocaust memorial designed by British artist Rachel Whiteread.

Opening hours: Sunday-Thursday (10am-6pm), Friday (10am-2pm). Admission to the museum is 12 EUR for adults, with discounts available.

Natural History Museum (Burgring 7, +43 1 521770, www.nhm-wien.ac.at) – The Natural History Museum features a huge collection of minerals, precious stones, meteorites, fossils, and even some taxidermy because stuffed animals and all! With over 30 million objects, the museum’s collection is one of the biggest in Europe. The museum is also home to a digital planetarium where you can watch movies about the earth and its development. I highly recommend going (cause space is awesome).

Opening hours: Thursday-Monday (9am-6:30pm), Wednesday (9am-9pm). Admission is 10 EUR.

Day 5

Mozart Museum (Domgasse 5, +43 1 5121791, www.mozarthausvienna.at) – Though Mozart lived at a handful of different addresses in Vienna, this is the only apartment that has survived. He lived here from 1784-1787, and you’ll learn about his life, family, music, friends, and are able to listen to his work. There’s a variety of paintings, artifacts, letters, and memorabilia from his life here as well. It’s a neat little museum to check out.

Opening hours: Daily (10am-7pm). Admission is 11 EUR.

Freud Museum (Berggasse 19, +43 1 3191596, www.freud-museum.at) – Sigmund Freud, the famous founder of psychoanalysis, lived in this apartment-turned-museum from 1891 to 1938. The museum was opened in 1971 with the help of Anna Freud (his youngest daughter) and is home to the original furniture and Freud’s private collection of antiques as well as first editions of his works. There are also films from his private life. It’s small and only takes about an hour to visit.

Opening hours: Daily (10am-6pm). Admission is 12 EUR.

Albertina (Albertinaplatz 1, +43 1 53483, www.albertina.at) – The Albertina is one of the best museums in the city (which says a lot because this is a city of museums)! It’s housed in one of the old private residence wings of the Imperial Palace. It’s most famous for its print collection, which is comprised of over one million prints and 60,000 drawings. However, they have a lot of temporary exhibits that rotate through here too, which I found to be the highlight (I saw one on Raphael).

Opening hours: Saturday-Tuesday, Thursday (10am-6pm), Wednesday and Friday (10am-9pm). Admission is 13 EUR for adults and free if you’re under 19.

Day 6

Do a Wine Tour (+ 43 12297334, www.discoverviennatours.com) Once you’ve had your fill of museums and palaces, take a bike tour of the nearby Wachau Valley. You’ll get to taste some of the best local wine while burning off a few extra calories (to make room for more wine, of course!). It’s a full day excursion (plan to spend 8-10 hours on this) that includes some sightseeing and lunch too. If you’re looking for a tour operator, I suggest Discover Vienna Tours. They are who I use when I run tours to Vienna and people love it. Honestly, it’s the number thing people remember!

Tours go between April and October and cost around 74 EUR per person (with discounts available for students).

Day 7

Visit Bratislava Bratislava makes for a great day trip from Vienna. Located only an hour away, you can easily head there for a day to explore its charming medieval center, several castles, a cathedral, beer halls, restaurants, and paths along the Danube. Bratislava is a relatively small capital so it’s easy to get around on foot. Trains depart regularly from Vienna for as little as 10 EUR, while Flixbus runs a regular bus service with tickets starting around 5 EUR. If you stay in the night, Hostel Blues is my favorite hostel in the city.

OR….

Explore Vienna Woods This beautiful woodland (known as Wienerwald) is located on the outskirts of the city and is filled with a lot of hiking paths. It’s located around 30km from the city, extremely popular with locals (few tourists get out there). If you don’t have a vehicle, you can take public transportation or try the ride-sharing service BlaBlaCar.

Where to eat

Here’s a list of all my favorite restaurants in Vienna:

Figmueller (Wollzeile 5, +43 15126177) – Founded over 110 years ago, the Figlmüller is famous for its schnitzel. Yes, it’s super touristy but the schnitzel is very good and it’s about the size of your face so you’ll have leftovers. Be sure to make reservations!

Der Wiener Deewan (Liechtensteinstraße 10, +43 1 9251185) – This pay-what-you-want restaurant cooks Pakistani cuisine with excellent daal, naan bread, and salad. It’s popular among students (the university is nearby). Don’t go in a huge group or you’ll never get a seat.

Café Jelinek (Otto-Bauer-Gasse 5, +43 15974113) – This is one of many coffee houses in Vienna. It’s cool, stylish, serves great drinks, and has comfy tables.

Japanisches Restaurant NihonBashi (Kärntner 44, +43 18907856) – This is the best sushi restaurant in Vienna. Not only is the food mouth watering but it has an extensive sake menu.

Plutzer Bräu (Schrankgasse 2, +43 15261215) – A Westernized bar, this place has delicious Viennese food, along with steaks, burgers, and lots of beer.

Café Phil (Gumpendorfer 10, +43 15810489) – This cafe is also a bookstore. It’s very laid back and a great place to people watch. They also have fast wifi, friendly staff, and serve food!

L’Osteria Bräunerstraße (Bräunerstraße 11, +43 1512253610) – To die for Italian and pizza joint right downtown with outdoor seatings, friendly staff, and a huge wine list.

Restaurant Hidori (Burggasse 89, +43 15233900) – Another solid sushi place that also services some pretty amazing yakitori (grilled skewers).

Café Sperl (Gumpendorfer 11, +43 15864158) – This traditional coffeehouse dates back to the 19th century and is home to some delicious pastries. It was featured in Before Sunrise and A Dangerous Method.

**** Vienna has a lot of things to do in see. Sure, there’s a lot of museums and, by the time you leave here, you’ll have museum overload but there’s also a lot of great walking tours, excursions outside the city, food markets, places to eat, and cafes to sit around with a good book in! Vienna will never steer you wrong!

The post How to Spend a Week in Vienna appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

from Traveling News https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/vienna-itinerary-planning/

[joshuamshea84]

How to Spend a Week in Vienna

Vienna. Home to schnitzel, Freud, Mozart, the Hapsburgs, opera, art, coffeeshops, and so much more. Over the decade I have been coming in and out of this city, I’ve watched it change from a stiff capital city to a cool, hip, foodie, and arty paradise.

Ok, it’s always been an arty paradise and maybe the “stiff capital” was just my incorrect first impression. See, when I first visited Vienna, I wasn’t a fan. It felt too stiff. Too proper. It had the air of a city too long steeped in imperial history. Despite being taken around by a local friend, I kept comparing it to Prague and Budapest and went “mehhh.”

But, over time, I’ve come to appreciate the city and all it has to offer. In short, I was wrong about Vienna (and that goes to the important point that first impressions are not always correct). The city has countless museums, palaces, markets, restaurants, quirky art exhibits, delicious food halls, neighbors a wonderful wine region, and is a quick train trip to Bratislava.

With so much to offer, here’s how I’d organize a week long visit to Vienna:

Day 1

Free walking tour (Neubaugürtel 54, +43 6645544315, www.goodviennatours.eu) – Start your trip off with a free walking tour. It’s a cool way to get a sense of the capital, give you a taste of its history and culture, and let you explore and orientate yourself the city on foot. Plus, you can ask your guide any and all questions you may have! Three excellent free tours are:

Good Tours

Anna Loves Vienna

The Original Free Vienna Walking Tour

Just make sure to tip your guide!

Imperial Palace (Michaelerkuppel, +43 15337570, www.hofburg-wien.at) – Built in the 13th century, this is a giant complex with multiple attractions. You can easily spend half a day here. First, there are the Imperial Apartments, which is really three activities in one: the silver collection featuring thousands of royal dinnerware, the Sisi exhibit highlighting the life of the beloved Empress Elisabeth of Austria, and the actually royal apartments themselves. Additionally, you can also check out the butterfly museum and the National Library where you can see the ornate baroque style State Hall with its tens of thousands of books.

However, my favorite is the Imperial Treasury. You’ll find tons of royal artifacts, crowns, scepters, and a really detailed history of the Hapsburg family and empire. And, though not free, you should definitely get the audio tour. It adds a ton of context to the exhibits. Honestly, if you just see this attraction, you’d learn enough!

Opening hours: Daily (9am-5:30pm) from September to June, and 9am-6pm in July and August. Admission is 14 EUR for adults and 8.20 EUR for kids. Just be sure to avoid the weekends if you can, as it gets crowded.

Additionally, you can listen to the Vienna Boys Choir during mass on Sundays at the Royal Chapel (which is located at the Imperial Palace). They are one of the most famous choirs in the world. There are around 100 boys in the choir. (Seated tickets start at 11 EUR, though you can get free standing room tickets if you line up 30-45 minutes before the performance.)

Naschmarkt (1060 Vienna, +43 1400005430, www.naschmarkt-vienna.com) – This is Vienna’s largest open-air food market. It’s been operating for hundreds of years and has a variety of restaurants, street stalls, and grocers. It’s a little touristy (don’t go food shopping here) but it has a cool vibe and, on a warm sunny day, it’s nice to sit out with a meal and a glass of wine. Despite its fame, you’ll still find a lot of locals here. Be sure to hit up Umarfisch for seafood and wine.

Opening hours: Monday-Friday (9am-7:30pm), Saturday (9am-5pm). Restaurants and cafes are open later.

Day 2

Museumsquartier (Museumsplatz 1, +43 15235881, www.mqw.at) – Once the imperial stables, the Museumsquartier is now home to three different museums: the Leopold Museum for Art Noveau and Experessionism; Kunsthalle Wien, an exhibition center with rotating exhibitions; and the Museum of Modern Art, which has the largest collection of modern art in central Europe. The Museumsquartier is also home to a number of festivals throughout the year.

Basically, if you love modern art, you need to come here!

Museum of Fine Arts (Maria-Theresien-Platz, +43 1525240, www.khm.at) – This is the largest art museum in the country, with artifacts from ancient Egypt and Greece and paintings from Raphael, Rembrandt, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, and more. Most of the items are from the Hapsburg’s old collection. This museum is more “classic art” and there’s enough to keep you busy for a few hours (at the very least).

Opening hours: Daily (10am-6pm; 10am-9pm on Thursdays) from June to August. Tuesday-Sunday (10am-6pm) and Thursday (10am-9pm) from September to May. Admission is 15 EUR.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral (Stephansplatz 3, www.stephanskirche.at) – Built in Romanesque and Gothic styles, this cathedral has been standing since the 12th century. Inside, you’ll find an ornately decorated church with high archways, vaulted ceilings, and a plethora of statues and religious paintings. Additionally, there are two beautiful altars: the High Altar, built in the 1640s and the Wiener Neustadt Altar, commissioned in 1447. The cathedral also has two towers, though one was never finished because they ran out of money. You can pay 5 EUR to climb the several hundred steps of the south tower or, if climbing isn’t your thing, you can pay 6 EUR to explore the catacombs below the cathedral.

Opening hours: Monday-Saturday (6am-10pm), Sunday (7am-10pm).

Stroll along the Danube If you haven’t done so already, take a walk along the Danube. There are plenty of bars, stores, and cafes along the water so you can grab a drink and chill or just window shop if you don’t feel like stopping. In the summer, there are also a few small “beaches” where you can relax and soak up some sun and relax on a nice day.

Day 3

House of Music (Seilerstätte 30, +43 15134850, www.hausdermusik.com) – This is a small but fascinating museum featuring exhibits on some of the world’s most well-known Austrian composers — Mozart, Schubert, Strauss, and Schoenberg. You can view manuscripts, artifacts, and there’s also a virtual stage where you can conduct your own symphony.

Opening hours: Daily (10am-10pm). Admission is 13 EUR.

Schonbrunn Palace (Schönbrunner Schloßstraße 47, +43 1 81113239, www.schoenbrunn.at) – This palace started off as a hunting lodge in 1696 before becoming the summer residence of the Hapsburgs (because at the time this was far outside the city center). There are over 1,400 rooms in the palace but only a handful are open to the public (you’ll see 22 rooms with the imperial tour and 40 rooms with the grand tour). However, there’s enough to spend a few hours here wandering the exquisitely restored rooms. The gardens are free (you’ll see a lot of locals running here) and there’s also a neat maze as well as the “Schonbrunn Tiergarten” (the Vienna Zoo), which is a great place to take the kids. I love coming to the gardens, climbing up the hill, and enjoying a bottle of wine with friends. You can see the city off in the distance. There are also guided tours for those particularly interested in the history of the palace.

Opening hours: Daily (8am-5:30pm) from April-June and September-November; 8am-6:30pm from July 1-August 31; 8am-5pm from November 5-March 31. The Imperial Tour is 14.20 EUR and takes 30-40 minutes, the Grand Tour is 17.50 and takes approximately 1 hour, the Classic Pass is 24 EUR and takes 3-4 hours, and the Sisi Ticket is 29.90 EUR and lasts an entire day. There is also an audio guide available in 21 different languages free of charge.

Vienna State Opera (Opernring 2, +43 1 514 44/2250, www.wiener-staatsoper.at) – Vienna is pretty much synonymous with opera. This opera house is one of the largest and most famous in the world and opera is a major focal point of Viennese life. For 9 EUR, you can take a 40-minute behind-the-scenes tour of the facility. To see a show, I recommend buying last minute standing room tickets for around 10 EUR (often less) the day of a show, usually around 60-80 minutes before it starts (you can line up earlier than that, but they don’t start selling until right before the show). It’s first come, first serve and you can only buy 1 ticket per person.

Opening hours: Varies daily for guided tours and for performances.

Day 4

Belvedere Palace (Prinz-Eugen-Strasse 27, +43 1 795570, www.belvedere.at) – This is one of my favorite places in the city. The Belvedere is actually two palaces. The northern palace is home to an incredible art collection with works by Renoir, Monet, and Van Gogh and a large portrait collection (which is my favorite). The southern palace is a rotating exhibit hall. The free grounds feature beautiful fountains, gravel walkways, ponds, statues, plants, and flowers and are prefect for stroll on a nice day.

Opening hours: Daily (10am-6pm). Admission is 8-22 EUR, depending on how much you want to explore.

Jewish Square (Dorotheergasse 11, +43 1 5350431, www.jmw.at) – For centuries, Vienna was home to a sizable Jewish population. Then the Nazis came. This area of town features two important museums: the Vienna Jewish Museum that details the role Viennese Jews played in the development of city life; and the Medieval Synagogue, which gives a more authentic look at the history of Jewish life in Vienna. There is also the nearby sober Holocaust memorial designed by British artist Rachel Whiteread.

Opening hours: Sunday-Thursday (10am-6pm), Friday (10am-2pm). Admission to the museum is 12 EUR for adults, with discounts available.

Natural History Museum (Burgring 7, +43 1 521770, www.nhm-wien.ac.at) – The Natural History Museum features a huge collection of minerals, precious stones, meteorites, fossils, and even some taxidermy because stuffed animals and all! With over 30 million objects, the museum’s collection is one of the biggest in Europe. The museum is also home to a digital planetarium where you can watch movies about the earth and its development. I highly recommend going (cause space is awesome).

Opening hours: Thursday-Monday (9am-6:30pm), Wednesday (9am-9pm). Admission is 10 EUR.

Day 5

Mozart Museum (Domgasse 5, +43 1 5121791, www.mozarthausvienna.at) – Though Mozart lived at a handful of different addresses in Vienna, this is the only apartment that has survived. He lived here from 1784-1787, and you’ll learn about his life, family, music, friends, and are able to listen to his work. There’s a variety of paintings, artifacts, letters, and memorabilia from his life here as well. It’s a neat little museum to check out.

Opening hours: Daily (10am-7pm). Admission is 11 EUR.

Freud Museum (Berggasse 19, +43 1 3191596, www.freud-museum.at) – Sigmund Freud, the famous founder of psychoanalysis, lived in this apartment-turned-museum from 1891 to 1938. The museum was opened in 1971 with the help of Anna Freud (his youngest daughter) and is home to the original furniture and Freud’s private collection of antiques as well as first editions of his works. There are also films from his private life. It’s small and only takes about an hour to visit.

Opening hours: Daily (10am-6pm). Admission is 12 EUR.

Albertina (Albertinaplatz 1, +43 1 53483, www.albertina.at) – The Albertina is one of the best museums in the city (which says a lot because this is a city of museums)! It’s housed in one of the old private residence wings of the Imperial Palace. It’s most famous for its print collection, which is comprised of over one million prints and 60,000 drawings. However, they have a lot of temporary exhibits that rotate through here too, which I found to be the highlight (I saw one on Raphael).

Opening hours: Saturday-Tuesday, Thursday (10am-6pm), Wednesday and Friday (10am-9pm). Admission is 13 EUR for adults and free if you’re under 19.

Day 6

Do a Wine Tour (+ 43 12297334, www.discoverviennatours.com) Once you’ve had your fill of museums and palaces, take a bike tour of the nearby Wachau Valley. You’ll get to taste some of the best local wine while burning off a few extra calories (to make room for more wine, of course!). It’s a full day excursion (plan to spend 8-10 hours on this) that includes some sightseeing and lunch too. If you’re looking for a tour operator, I suggest Discover Vienna Tours. They are who I use when I run tours to Vienna and people love it. Honestly, it’s the number thing people remember!

Tours go between April and October and cost around 74 EUR per person (with discounts available for students).

Day 7

Visit Bratislava Bratislava makes for a great day trip from Vienna. Located only an hour away, you can easily head there for a day to explore its charming medieval center, several castles, a cathedral, beer halls, restaurants, and paths along the Danube. Bratislava is a relatively small capital so it’s easy to get around on foot. Trains depart regularly from Vienna for as little as 10 EUR, while Flixbus runs a regular bus service with tickets starting around 5 EUR. If you stay in the night, Hostel Blues is my favorite hostel in the city.

OR….

Explore Vienna Woods This beautiful woodland (known as Wienerwald) is located on the outskirts of the city and is filled with a lot of hiking paths. It’s located around 30km from the city, extremely popular with locals (few tourists get out there). If you don’t have a vehicle, you can take public transportation or try the ride-sharing service BlaBlaCar.

Where to eat

Here’s a list of all my favorite restaurants in Vienna:

Figmueller (Wollzeile 5, +43 15126177) – Founded over 110 years ago, the Figlmüller is famous for its schnitzel. Yes, it’s super touristy but the schnitzel is very good and it’s about the size of your face so you’ll have leftovers. Be sure to make reservations!

Der Wiener Deewan (Liechtensteinstraße 10, +43 1 9251185) – This pay-what-you-want restaurant cooks Pakistani cuisine with excellent daal, naan bread, and salad. It’s popular among students (the university is nearby). Don’t go in a huge group or you’ll never get a seat.

Café Jelinek (Otto-Bauer-Gasse 5, +43 15974113) – This is one of many coffee houses in Vienna. It’s cool, stylish, serves great drinks, and has comfy tables.

Japanisches Restaurant NihonBashi (Kärntner 44, +43 18907856) – This is the best sushi restaurant in Vienna. Not only is the food mouth watering but it has an extensive sake menu.

Plutzer Bräu (Schrankgasse 2, +43 15261215) – A Westernized bar, this place has delicious Viennese food, along with steaks, burgers, and lots of beer.

Café Phil (Gumpendorfer 10, +43 15810489) – This cafe is also a bookstore. It’s very laid back and a great place to people watch. They also have fast wifi, friendly staff, and serve food!

L’Osteria Bräunerstraße (Bräunerstraße 11, +43 1512253610) – To die for Italian and pizza joint right downtown with outdoor seatings, friendly staff, and a huge wine list.

Restaurant Hidori (Burggasse 89, +43 15233900) – Another solid sushi place that also services some pretty amazing yakitori (grilled skewers).

Café Sperl (Gumpendorfer 11, +43 15864158) – This traditional coffeehouse dates back to the 19th century and is home to some delicious pastries. It was featured in Before Sunrise and A Dangerous Method.

**** Vienna has a lot of things to do in see. Sure, there’s a lot of museums and, by the time you leave here, you’ll have museum overload but there’s also a lot of great walking tours, excursions outside the city, food markets, places to eat, and cafes to sit around with a good book in! Vienna will never steer you wrong!

The post How to Spend a Week in Vienna appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

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Budapest has so much – something for everyone. On every street and around every corner there’s another trendy shop or cool cafe or tasty goulash restaurant… Plus there are lots of museums, walks by the Danube and into the hills, a variety of thermal baths and interesting nightlife. 

I won’t try to write a guide to the city. Though I was there for a whole week I still barely scratched the surface… Although I can recommend:

Madal Espresso and Brew Bar and London Coffee Society for a caffeine fix. Szimpla Kert for its Farmers’ Market and Sunday brunch buffet. Deep Burger. Karaván Park in the Jewish Quarter has good street food. Central Market Hall has traditional products and restaurants. 

Climb Gellert Hill and Janos Hill for views of the city and Danube. Try the Margaret Island running track or Anna Meadow for exercise. 

Rudas is my favourite bath with its Ottoman era thermal pools and new rooftop pool.

Ludwig Museum, Aquincum and Műcsarnok for culture.

I stayed at Maverick City Lodge. 

Also, you can read some of the articles I looked at when I was researching my trip:

Independent.co.uk

EuropeanCoffeeTrip.com

AlizsWonderland.com

FoodieFlashpacker.com

CultureTrip.com

NYTimes.com

  However there are a few tips I can offer from my own experiences!

Bring two towels to the baths – one to bring around with you, and one to leave in your locker to dry yourself at the very end. 

Use public transport – efficient and cheap way to get around. 

Get the Budapest Card if you want to see a few museums.

    Budapest Budapest has so much - something for everyone. On every street and around every corner there's another trendy shop or cool cafe or tasty goulash restaurant… Plus there are lots of museums, walks by the Danube and into the hills, a variety of thermal baths and interesting nightlife. 

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Mécs Anna kapta a Margó-díjat 2018-ban!

2018 október 18-án a CAFe Budapest Kortárs Művészeti Fesztivál kapcsolódó programjaként megvalósuló Margó Irodalmi Fesztivál és Könyvvásáron negyedik alkalommal adták át a Margó-díjat a legjobb első prózakötet szerzőjének, Mécs Annának. Az első Margó-díjat Totth Benedek nyerte a Holtverseny című regényével, másodjára Milbacher Róbert bizonyult a legjobbnak a Szűz Mária jegyesével, harmadjára…

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Booth Beat: Our 5 Favorite Booths From World Of Coffee Amsterdam

Dutch winds blew chilly outside World of Coffee 2018, but inside, at the Amsterdam RAI convention center, June 20th to 23rd were hot-ticket days.

Breaking records this year, nearly 11,000 professionals registered for WOC, according to its organizing body, the Specialty Coffee Association. At a pre-ribbon-cutting press conference prior to the trade show’s official opening, SCA chief events officer Cindy Cohn cited a presence of 271 exhibitors and called it “the best-looking event we’ve put on.” Later, on the competition floor, Agnieszka Rojewska from Poland made history by becoming the first woman in the contest’s 18-year existence to win the title of World Barista Champion.

Visitors to Amsterdam sometimes joke that they can’t remember much from their trips to the famously live-and-let-live city, but these five WOC booths proved unforgettable.

Kees van der Westen

Nothing lights up a Dutch coffee event like the indigenous splendor of the Kees van der Westen brand, and everybody, from everywhere, was getting revved-up to see the debut of the Mirage Slim Jim. Presaged in a 2016 Sprudge interview with Kees van der Westen himself, this new espresso machine is “kind of a mixture” between others in the existing seQries, explained Yvette van der Westen, who oversees marketing for the company that her father heads. “Technically, visually, and price-wise, it will offer users an experience that falls somewhere between the Mirage and the Spirit.”

Unlike the Mirage, the Mirage Slim Jim is a multiple-boiler machine. Available in a Douette or a Triplette configuration, the groups have been given plenty of love and attention, each having its own two-stage progressive pre-infusion cylinder, a shot timer, a thermometer, and a pressure gauge. Other features include a dual hot water temperature knob and a dual volumetric lever.

The Slim Jim Idrocompresso model shares many of the same specs as the standard Slim Jim, but its prominent lever group cylinders have been built to be fully encased in hot water. This produces “a water cushioning effect which takes off a bit of the pressure and it won’t hit you in the face,” said Yvette, explaining that the lever on previous Idrocompresso models was susceptible to shooting up if a barista forgot to load the portafilter.

All four prototypes showed unique details, including interchangeable legs, front and side panels, cup rails, awnings, and knobs, plus various colors and room for customized logos. Still, they all shared a nostalgic Americana automotive design sensibility, so much so that baristas might start pulling out their Pomade and poodle skirts.

Following WOC, the Van der Westen family—all members showed up, including Yvette’s two sisters, now also her colleagues—were due to cruise back to headquarters in Waalre. Their road map foresees a few more technical tweaks, a pre-production series, and finally, the Mirage Slim Jim’s availability by early 2019.

Qima Coffee

At WOC Amsterdam, the launch of Qima Coffee, a London-headquartered company sourcing specialty beans from Yemen, was bittersweet. “The Yemen Coffee Revolution Starts Here” read the slogan on the stand’s backdrop, a lively mocha- and gold-toned illustration of Sana’a’s ancient skyline. Helping lead that revolution is Faris Sheibani, a UK-born Yemeni who founded Qima in late 2016, seeking to do something for his parents’ country of origin, where civil war has killed, wounded, and displaced thousands of people since early 2015.

Booth-side, Sheibani and colleagues warmly received visitors, telling them about Qima’s debut collection. Some 800 smallholder farmers across northern and central Yemen produced about 250 coffee lots, which were cupped and scored by Dutchman-gone-Californian Willem Boot of Boot Coffee. For the expo, Cafe Keppler co-owner Kees Kraakman roasted sample beans and praised Sheibani, a former SCA course student of his, for “how he combines a moral cause with a commercial enterprise.” Some farmers can now earn 20 times more income working for Qima, said Brahim Boukadid, Qima’s commercial manager in the Netherlands. He reported that 10% of profits get reinvested in the farmers’ villages, supporting agriculture and education projects, though above all, he emphasized: “We want to give them hope with this coffee.”

Attendees showed avid interest in Qima, suggesting its commercial prospects in Europe are real. Those glimmers of hope, however, were overshadowed by a conspicuous absence: that of four Yemeni farmers and a Yemeni NGO worker who were expected to be part of the company’s Amsterdam delegation. Their visa requests to visit the Netherlands were denied twice after what Sheibani described in an impassioned video message as an arduous, time-consuming, and humiliating application process filed via the Dutch embassy in Amman, Jordan. The visa denial made headlines and generated social media posts hashtagged #freeourfarmers. Qima has been outspoken about the decision’s unjustness and its irony. In the same video, Sheibani stated: “The Dutch East India Company took—smuggled—seedlings from Yemen, coffee seedlings from Yemen, to Amsterdam to plant them in the botanical gardens in Amsterdam, illegally. Four hundred two years later, we wanted to legally… together with the Dutch, celebrate coffee culture.” Qima has since published a follow-up video, captioned as a “message of hope and coexistence from the farmers of Yemen to the people of the Netherlands and the world!”

At the time of writing, three of the farmers remain in Amman, Sheibani told Sprudge in an email shortly after he returned to the UK. He said that he is helping the farmers apply to other global coffee exhibitions so they can personally represent their coffees. “If they go back empty-handed, it would be a devastating blow to thousands of farmers following the events from Yemen and a significant setback to the Yemeni coffee industry in general,” wrote Sheibani. (For the latest news, follow Qima on Facebook.)

Department of Brewology

It was a sight for sore eyes and some salve for the soul to spot the Department of Brewology making their WOC debut. The dauntless design duo from Austin, Texas, was selling wearables and wall art featuring their Filter Coffee Not People slogan, among others.

“It’s been great, actually. We love coming to Europe,” said company operations manager Brett Cannon, when asked their reception outside the US. New items on show included two coffee blossom pins and mini-prints of their iconic illustrations commingling botanicals and barista tools. Company designer David Salinas also told Sprudge about a new campaign, expected to launch in the coming months. For it, the Department of Brewology is working with The Lucy Foundation, a New Zealand-based organization promoting greater visibility of people with disabilities in the coffee industry. In the same spirit that sees proceeds of the FCNP T-shirt going to the Refugee Services of Texas, the new initiative will help raise funds for The Lucy Foundation. These designs are a collaboration between Floridian illustrator Anna Coleman and Salinas, and will be anchored by their own slogan. Those words are not yet public, but the campaign is geared “to really advocate for coffees that do good as opposed to just coffees that taste good,” said Salinas.

Collezione Henk Langkemper

Not a booth but a veritable buffet table, the Collezione Henk Langkemper snaked its way along one side of the trade floor’s food court. On show were 25 vintage espresso machines and grinders manufactured between 1936 and 1972, and now belonging to Dutch coffee industry vet Henk Langkemper. His entire 110-piece collection of such relics is usually at Espresso Service West, his three-decade-old coffee import and distribution company in The Hague that has become synonymous with supporting Dutch baristas in national and world competitions.

Asked for his most cherished, Langkemper pointed to what he called “any collector’s favorite:” the Rondine, described as the first La Marzocco one-group ever made, in 1953. The journey to get the machines to Amsterdam was tumultuous, said their owner: the idea began hatching at last year’s WOC Budapest, was slowed down by uncertainty about where on the expo floor the display could be accommodated, got called off after Langkemper had a heart attack in November, and then by February, reignited when an ESW customer pledged to provide the display bars. Before long, friends of Langkemper, from Seattle to Hong Kong, pitched in to help restore the machines. And so there they—and their owner—stood, back in shiny working condition.

Coffee Pixels

Winning this year’s Best New Product Competition in the category of food was Coffee Pixels Cascara, one of two edible coffee bars being sold by Latvian cousins Raivis, Andris, and Gundars Vaitekuns. Former specialty cafe owners in Riga, the trio today forms the company Solid Coffee, which started producing Coffee Pixels in 2017. Raivis described it as an idea born from necessity or, more precisely, withdrawal while traveling. Recounting instances when gas station or airplane coffee was their only option, he said they asked themselves “how we can take the quality of experience and the values that we have in specialty coffee truly on the go.”

The 10-gram bars are made from cocoa butter, Ethiopian coffee, coffee cherries, sugar, and salt. The “Milk” version contains 33 milligrams of caffeine and the winning “Cascara” contains 50 milligrams, the equivalent of approximately 30 milliliters of espresso. Sourced by Panama Varietals, the cascara comes from Nicaragua, and its choice as an ingredient reflects “the other part of the drive to build this product,” said Raivis, which is “to really tackle the waste produced in the coffee industry.”

Raivis, Andris, and Gundars Vaitekuns, founders of Coffee Pixels.

Another edible coffee benefit is that it “will be micro-dosing itself within your body,” he said. Because the caffeine is in saturated fat, it takes longer for the body to absorb, with its effect lasting up to four hours, Raivis estimated. He also pointed out that cascara contains antioxidants, so “this clean boost” accompanies the caffeine kick. “It feels like you have more energy in the head.”

And no wonder WOC Amsterdam was full of superlative highs and yet, still so memorable.

Karina Hof is a Sprudge staff writer based in Amsterdam. Read more Karina Hof on Sprudge. 

The post Booth Beat: Our 5 Favorite Booths From World Of Coffee Amsterdam appeared first on Sprudge.

Booth Beat: Our 5 Favorite Booths From World Of Coffee Amsterdam published first on https://medium.com/@LinLinCoffee

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Cómo nos gusta #budapest (en Anna Cafe Budapest) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzyPeOrIxwm/?igshid=bff6k39bdum0